It put 13,000 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for the first time in five years. The place rocked as if it was a 1990s Night with Shaquille O'Neal and Chris Jackson on the court. And LSU dominated No. 1 Kentucky in a 21-2 run starting midway in the second half to take a six-point lead and make Kentucky coach John Calipari look as helplessly frustrated as former Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall in one of his many losses to former LSU coach Dale Brown here.

Then the Tigers got the last shot – a 3-pointer in the corner for the win – but guard Keith Hornsby missed with 3.0 seconds to play, and the undefeated Wildcats survived 71-69 in front of 13,111, which was the largest crowd at the PMAC since 2009.

"I definitely felt that we were going to win when we went up six," said LSU sophomore forward Jarell Martin, who played the game of his life, leading all scorers with 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. "I felt like, 'We got this game. It's in our pocket.'"

So did a raucous crowd which saw their Tigers explode at the start of the game to take a 10-2 lead just three minutes in. Calipari called a timeout and benched all five starters. The Wildcats recovered and took a 38-34 lead into halftime.

The crowd came to life again over the final 10 minutes of the game as LSU (17-6, 6-5 Southeastern Conference) fought back with a vengeance after falling behind by 58-45 with 12:46 to play. Just three-and-a-half minutes later, LSU forward Jordan Mickey tied the score 60-60 on two free throws with 9:18 to go, completing what was then a 15-2 run. But it was not complete. Guard Tim Quarterman fed guard Josh Gray for a layup and a 62-60 lead – LSU's first 30-28 with 5:54 to go in the first half.

Then Hornsby got a layup, and after a struggling Willie Cauley-Stein turned it over to LSU, Hornsby popped another layup for a 66-60 advantage with 7:29 to play.

"From then, we just had to carry that momentum," Hornsby said.

Calipari thought it might be over, too.

"We're going to lose the game, and I hope we do," Calipari had yelled at forward Karl-Anthony Towns after he drew a technical for holding onto the rim after an offensive rebound. His rim pull actually prevented a teammate's shot from going in, which would have put the Wildcats up 62-52 with 10:39 to go. Instead, Hornsby hit one of the two technical free throws to get LSU within 60-53. LSU kept the ball, and Hornsby immediately nailed a 3-pointer to cut Kentucky's lead to 60-56 with 10:25 to go, and Calipari was all over Towns, who was immediately benched after the rim pull.

"They're going to learn their lesson on this," Calipari said he said to himself at the time. "We're not going to lose in March because of a play like that."

And in the end, they did not lose in February either despite surrendering the major run by LSU. But it was close. Towns returned to the game and to his coach's good graces as he put Kentucky up, 70-69, on an inside bucket in traffic with 1:30 to play. Then it was LSU's turn to self-destruct. Gray was driving to the basket, but he drew a shot clock violation with 50.7 seconds to go. Kentucky's Devin Booker hit the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity for a 71-69 lead with 15 seconds left, completing an 11-3 run by the Wildcats.

Hornsby was open briefly for a 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds to go, but he did not get it off and looked like he may have been fouled as a Kentucky player knocked the ball out of his hands and out bounds.

"I was fouled," Hornsby said.

LSU inbounded and got it to Hornsby in the same spot with three seconds to play, but he missed it with a Wildcat in his face.

"We got what we wanted," said Hornsby, who finished with 17, including a pair of 3-pointers in six attempts. "It was a little more contested than I would've liked. I had to rush it."

And it was over. Kentucky (24-0, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) survived. LSU (17-7, 6-5 SEC) blew opportunities late yet again, but it proved to itself that it can play with the very best.